On the back of their FA Cup fourth-round replay victory over Wrexham on Tuesday, Sheffield United will aim to make a return to winning ways and strengthen their position at the top end of the Championship table on Saturday, when they welcome Swansea City to Bramall Lane.
The Blades could only add a point to their tally away at Rotherham United in their last league outing, while their visitors lost a dramatic contest against Birmingham City last time out and dropped into the bottom half as a result.
Match preview
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Although Sheffield United do still come into the weekend as one of the Championship's form sides, having not suffered a league defeat since the return from the World Cup break in December, with six of their first seven matches being victories, they will now be vying to return to winning ways after a somewhat disappointing result last weekend.
Following a last-gasp equaliser away at Queens Park Rangers after the turn of the year, Paul Heckingbottom's side again put back-to-back wins on the board, beating Stoke City and Hull City 3-1 and 1-0 on home turf respectively to further extend their cushion over the chasing pack in the fight for automatic promotion to the Premier League, before drawing 3-3 in dramatic fashion away at Wrexham in an FA Cup fourth-round tie as John Egan produced the leveller deep into injury time to force a replay.
Following that result in Wales, the Blades returned to league action with a short trip to take on Rotherham United last Saturday, but they were unable to make it three league triumphs on the bounce, instead having to settle for a point as neither side managed to break the deadlock.
Heckingbottom's men now head into Saturday's test on the back of a successful replay at home to the fifth-tier Red Dragons on Tuesday, as the game looked set to end in another draw and go to extra time, as Adam Davies saved Paul Mullin's second penalty to keep the tie at 1-1, before Billy Sharp and Sander Berge netted injury-time goals to ensure they progressed inside normal time to book a round-of-16 clash with Tottenham Hotspur.
Now turning their attention back to the fight for promotion from the Championship, after last week's somewhat disappointing result, the Blades still find themselves comfortably inside the top two with a 10-point lead over Middlesbrough at the front of the chasing pack and a game in hand, and they will aim to extend their eye-catching unbeaten run and make a return to winning ways to further strengthen their position ahead of an important contest with Boro next week.
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They welcome a Swansea City team who face the tough test of a trip to the league's second-placed side in their bid to return to form and stay in the fight for playoff places in England's second tier.
Following a 4-0 thrashing of Watford before the turn of the year, Russell Martin's side found themselves on 35 points from 25 league matches, but they have since been unable to continue a climb towards the top six, with just one more win coming from their last four second-tier outings.
That one triumph came in impressive fashion away at Sunderland, and after dropping out of the FA Cup at the hands of Bristol City, they travelled to Queens Park Rangers and put another point on the board as Jay Fulton forced a 1-1 draw with an equaliser for the Swans 10 minutes from time.
Hoping to build on that and get back to winning ways, the Welsh outfit most recently hosted an out-of-sorts Birmingham City side, and in a particularly eventful affair, they led 3-2 going into injury time thanks to a Joel Piroe brace and a Liam Cullen goal, only for Lukas Jutkiewicz to draw their visitors level in the 90th minute and Auston Trusty to produce a 97th-minute winner to snatch all three points for the Blues.
A win in that contest would have seen the Swans move level on points with ninth-placed Sunderland and 10th-placed Norwich City and within two points of West Bromwich Albion in the top six, but they instead now find themselves 13th and will be desperate to keep themselves in the mix with what would be a statement win in South Yorkshire.
Team News
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Sheffield United will be able to call on wing-back Jayden Bogle on Saturday, after he missed the recent Wrexham game through suspension, while defenders George Baldock, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Enda Stevens and Jack O'Connell remain sidelined by injuries.
Midfielders John Fleck and Tommy Doyle are also confined to the treatment room, meaning James McAtee and Sander Berge should again join Oliver Norwood in the engine room, although Ismaila Coulibaly and Ben Osborn are both vying to again feature from the outset after starting on Tuesday.
Billy Sharp is also fighting to remain in the starting XI, although Heckingbottom may instead opt to deploy Oli McBurnie if deemed fit alongside star man Iliman Ndiaye, who has contributed 10 goals and seven assists in the Championship so far this season.
Swansea City's attack will again be heavily reliant on Joel Piroe, who took his tally to 11 league goals for the season with his brace in the Birmingham contest.
He should again have support from the trio of Liam Cullen, Olivier Ntcham and Oli Cooper in a 4-2-3-1 setup, with Jay Fulton bound to join captain Matt Grimes at the base of midfield again.
Ben Cabango and Nathan Wood were preferred in the middle of the defence last time out, but Harry Darling is vying to break back into the starting XI at the weekend, as is experienced defender Kyle Naugton.
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Foderingham; Ahmedhodzic, Egan, Robinson; Bogle, Berge, Norwood, McAtee, Lowe; Ndiaye, McBurnie
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Fisher; Latibeaudiere, Cabango, Darling, Manning; Grimes, Fulton; Cooper, Ntcham, Cullen; Piroe
We say: Sheffield United 2-0 Swansea City
Back on home turf and with the desire to bounce back from last week's stalemate, we see the Blades having more than enough quality to get past Swansea on Saturday and put three more points on the board at Bramall Lane.
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Top tip
Sam Varley
